No Deal would be disaster for the eurozone, warn Dutch MPs

A NO Deal Brexit would cause ‘considerable’ economic harm to the rest of Europe, Dutch MPs warned yesterday.

The delegation, which visited Westminster last week on a fact-finding mission, said No Deal would worsen already weak growth across the eurozone. It could even trigger a banking crisis in Italy, they suggested, given the country’s vulnerability to economic shocks due to high public debt. ‘This could rebound on the eurozone,’ the Dutch said.

They predicted the worst-hit nations would be Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium and France, as well as the Netherlands. However, the MPs stressed that Britain would be ‘hit the hardest’ by No Deal.

Their report also warned the scenario would lead to ‘long queues of freight traffic on both sides of the EU’s new border with the UK’.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay is expected to return to Brussels next week, when talks will resume.

But the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said yesterday: ‘We have finished our work … I don’t feel the need to spend a lot more time on [the Withdrawal Agreement].

‘We’re working on explanations around the treaty, guarantees or supplementary assurances, notably on the question of the Irish backstop.’